Art of manufacturing saws.



No. 671,45l. Patented Apr'. 9, 190|.

' C. PRUUTY.

ART 0F MANUFACTURING SAWS.

(Application Med Mar. 19, 1898.;

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N0- 67|.45| Patented Apr. 9, 190|. C. PROUTY.

ART 0F MANUFACTURING SAWS.

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No. 67|,45L Patented Apr. 9, |90l.

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ABT 0F MANUFACTURING SAWS.

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No. 67|,45|. Patented Apr. 9, |901.

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ART 0F MANUFACTURING -SAWS.

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the requisite taper lengthwise of the blade.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHESTER PROUTY, OF RIDGWAY, PENNSYLVANIA.

ART OF MANUFACTURING vSAWSl SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 671,451, dated April 9, 1901.

Original application filed March 8, 1896, Serial No. 581,658. No. 674.519.

T0 all whom, t may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHESTER PROUTY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ridgway, in the county of Elk and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Art of Manufacturing Saws; and I do hereby ldeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in saws for use by hand as distinguished from rotary and power driven saws, and it is a division of a prior application filed by me on the 3d day of March, 1896, Serial No. 581,658.

Prior to my invention it was customary in the manufacture of crosscut, hand, 'one-man, and other kinds of saws to first roll the steel to a finish through common rolls to a common or uniform gage throughout the length and width of the sheet-steel, to subsequently shear the uniform thickness of steel to the required shape and size, then to cut the teeth on one edge of the blank so produced, and finally to ltemper the steel and finish the blank, as graphically represented by Figure l of the accompanying drawings, designated as old blank. Now if it were desired to produce a saw with diierent thicknesses or gages along its front Working edge or at its back neutral edge or along both its working and neutral edges it is the universal custom to grind the saw-blade in order to secure the requisite variation in the gages or thicknesses of the blade lengthwise and transversely thereof. Such a method of grinding the sawblade to secure the requisite taper is known in the trade as the Simonds process, which contemplates the presentation of the sawblade to a running stone or stones and subjecting the blade to the actionof the grindstones at variable points, so as to produce Such a process necessarily results in the grinding off or removal by mechanical abrasion of suiiicient quantity of steel at different points as to reduce the steel blade to the desired gage; but among other objections the grind# ing process resultsin unevenness or irregulari- Divided and this application led March 19, 1898. Serial l{No model.)

ties on the respective faces of the blade, the grinding operation resulting in many cases in the removal of enough steel as to amount to one-half of the weight of an unfinished blade to secure a single iinished article.

It is frequently necessary in the art to produce crosscut-saws which shall be twenty-one gage on the back edge and fourteen-gage on the front working edge; also, to produce other relative graduations inthe blades of one1nan saws, tapered handsaws, and other kinds of saws for use in sawing timber. Under the old and common process of grinding saws having such graduations in the relative thickness or gage of the front and back edges it requires double the weight of metal in a finished saw for the production of a blank of the necessary gage preparatory to the grinding operation, because the metal mustbe `ground and thinned down to the required course of my experience in the artI have observed that it requires on some occasions from eight to sixteen poundsof grindstone to grind off one pound of steel from a long crosscut-saw blade, and in many cases it is necessary to grind off five pounds of steel from a blade to produce a finished blade. Ot' course the expense of grinding a blade varies according to the qualityof the steel of which the blade is made and the quality of the stone employed in the operation, and when the stone and steel are once ground the materials are both lost, besides entailing the expense of a great deal of labor and the tear and friction on heavyV machinery.

One of the most serious objections encountered in grinding saw-blades to the required gage is the liability of pressing the saw too hard against the grindstone, which results in heating and burning of the steel, consequent drawing out of the temper, and rendering the saw too soft and pliable, so that it bends in the hands of the operator when engaged in cutting timber,which objection is noticeable particularly in long crosscutsaws from five to seven feet in length. On the other hand, the water running on the grindstone and poured on a saw while in its IOO overheated condition due to the grinding or abrasive action of the stone on the blade the saw will become case-hardened, thus causing it to break or fracture easily at the thin part thereof. It is well known that the operation of grinding steel-does not tend to refine or benefit the quality of the steel; but, on the contrary, the tendency is to lessen the durability and strength of the article. When saws are pressed unusually hard against the stone, the blades are generally overheated and are hardened at that particular place whenever Water comes in contact therewith. In the event that the blade should become casehardened the remaining part of the undulyheated section of the blade would be too soft if the water does not come in contact therewith. Frequently the grindstones contain hard spots or areas that reduce or wear away much slower than the balance of thestone, and these hardened stone areas tend to injure the saw, because they protrude beyond the remainder of the stone-surface. Hence at each revolution of the stone the hardened areas thereof press with greater force against the blade and produce concave places therein or unduly heat the same, thus subjecting the bladeto conditions which either render them too soft or too hard. Many attempts have been made to overcome these difficulties, principally by rolling the blades singly; but

to my knowledge the single-rolling operations have always been failures owing to the tendency of the steel to rule or become irregularly formed on the thin edge of the blade and to unduly curve toward the rthick edge or become bulged en masse on the working edge. v

Briefly summarized, the grinding ofthe saw-blade is objectionable because of the eX- pense in time, labor, and material consumed, the production'of irregularly-faced blades or the inequalities in or loss of the temper and the consequent softening of the blade or the case-hardening and consequent tendency-to fracture of the blade, while, on the other hand, the rolling of single blades results in the production of steel blanks'in which'the steel is ruffled on the thin edge and unduly massed and curved on the thick working edge.

The object of my invention is to construct sawblades which are of graduated thicknesses and gage in .several portions of the Working and neutral edges thereof and to provide saw-blades in which the faces are true and accurate on both sides, the quality of the steel is ine and tough, and in which the saws are free fromv burns and hardened or soft spots or sections in the structure of the blade.

My improvement consists 'in providing a saw which is preferably produced by rolling the metal in either a cold or heated condition of double or duplex blank, in which the metal is of different gages lengthwise along its median and side edges and is also of double-tapered form in cross-section, with its thinnest portion along the median line of the blank and its thickest portion of the respective sides or edges thereof, subsequently cutting or severing the blank along its median line into two equal halves or sections, each producing a saw-blankwhich is thinnest on one edge, thickest on the opposite edge, and of varying gage or thickness longitudinally along its thick and thin edges, with both lateral faces true and accurate, and then cutting the teeth in one edge, and subsequently inishing the blade for the attachment of the handle or handles. y

It will be understood that, if desired, l may produce at one or more rolling operations an embryonic blank capable of severance along the median line into two'equal halves or sections each of the proper contour, taper, and gage for manufacture into perfect saw-blades Without subjecting them to a grinding operation, with the consequent evil effects hereinbefore described. v l

My improvement consists in providing blades or blanks which have'the sides or faces thereof of exactly corresponding contour or` shape. The rolling process refi'nesthe steel and makes it tougher and more dense and compact, so that it will better standfthe rough usage in actual service, and when the steel blanks are produced thinner on the back edge than on the front edgethe steel along the thinnest edge will beretined and tonghened in proportion to the variation in the gage,

thus producing saws which are the best adapted to therequirements of* the service.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my improvement and some of the many dierent kinds of saw-blades which may be produced.

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tained by severing the blank shown in Fig. 10

along its median longitudinal line. Fig. 14 is a view of the saw-blade after the teeth have been formed therein. Figs..15 to 26, inclusive, show single blanks formed by cutting the blanks illustrated in Figs. 1 to 12 along the longitudinal center thereof.

It will be borne in mind that the blade shown in Fig. l is the common style of steel ness at its front and back edges, all as hereinbefore described'.

y According to'my invention I prepare an embryonic blank or steel sheet of peculiar' the double-taperedcross-sectional form of the blank overcomes any tendency to the mal-- formation or improper assemblage and disposition of the steel fibers, and herein lies one of the important and advantageous features of my improvement in the art of manufacturing saw-blades. Subsequent to the rolling of the longitudinally-tapered blank of double-wedge-shaped form in cross-section the blank is severed longitudinally along the thinnest portion or the median line, (indicated at tu) thus producing two equal halves or sections, each having the required gage along both its thick and thin edges or the proper longitudinal and transverse taper produced therein as an integral part of the blade consequent upon the rolling operation. The blades are now further treated by punching the teeth in the 'thickened working edges thereof, and each blade is finally finished in the, ordinary manner well known to those skilled in the art for the attachment of the handle or handles, (itc.

As exemplifying some of the styles of sawblades which may be produced by my invention I have illustrated various types thereof. For example, Figs. 2 to 8 represent various styles of handsawblanks. More specifically, Fig. 2 shows a blank which along its median line tapers from twenty three to twenty three and one half to twenty :four gage, while at the side edges the blank is respectively'twentybne, twenty-one and onehalf, and twenty-two gage. Fig. 3 shows the gage to be twenty-one, twenty-two, and twenty-three along the median line and nineteen, twenty,and twentyone at each side edge. Fig. 4 shows the blank to be twenty-one, twentytwo, and twenty-three gage at the thin rnedian line and nineteen, twenty, and twentyone at each side edge. Fig. 5 shows the blank with a gage of twenty-two, twenty-three, and twenty-four along the median line and twenty, twenty-one, and twenty-two at each side edge. Fig. 6 is a blank with the gage twenty, nineteen and one-half, and nineteen at the median line, while at each edge the gage is eighteen, seventeen and one-half, and seventeen. Fig. 7 shows the gage to be twenty,

twenty-one, and twenty-two at the middle and eighteen, nineteen, and twenty at the edges, and Fig. S shows the gage twenty-one, twenty-two, and twenty-three at the middle, while at the edges it is nineteen, eighteen, and seventeen.

In the'long crosscut-saw blanks shown by from sixt-een at the endsto twenty and` twenty-one at the cent-er, while on each edge the gage is fourteen and one-eighth at the ends and fourteen near the middle. The blank shown by Fig. l0 has at the median line the gages sixteen, twenty, and sixteen, and at the edges the gage is uniform at fourteen. Fig. 1l indicates that the gage is uniform at eighteen along the median line, while at each edge the gage varies from sixteen to fourteen, as shown, and in Fig. 12 the blank is shown with a gage along the center which varies from seventeen to nineteen and twenty; but at the edge the gage is fourteen and one-half to fourteen at the points shown. It is thus apparent that I produce rolled blanks of doubletapered form in cross-section with varying gages or thicknesses longitudinally along the median and both sides of the blanks, and it is evident that the gages or thicknesses may vary to meet the diiferent conditions demanded by the trade.

My improvement enables me to produce rapidly and economically saw-blades of the required taper and gage which are free from the objections heretofore encountered in the art and due to the grinding of the blade to the required gage or to,the rolling of a single blank, and myimproved saw-blades also have both lateral ,faces true and accurate and they are free from the blemishes which from a practical standpoint are so objectionable to ordinary saw-blades.

Many attempts have heretofore been made to roll cross-Sectionally-tapered steel blanks for saws and other cutlery articles; but such attempts, to my knowledge, have all been failures, for the reason that it has not been practical to roll a cross-sectienally-tapered plate to the form required of metal for service in the art. One attempt at producing such rolling of the plate has been the employment of cylindrical rolls set with their axes inclined in diverse planes; but this is wholly impracticable,

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for the reason that the work as it passes through the rolls will curve around to one side and become deiiected edgewise, resulting in the production of steel whollyuniit for the purposes of manufacture into saws or lother articles. It has been wholly impracticable to provide means for guiding the blank and keepingit in true relation to the rods and feeding in a straight line therethrough. These objections are overcome by my invention, the

vital feature of which is the rolling of a steel metal is displaced or forced along -its median line uniformly in opposite directions, and thus while the blank is made thinner along its median portion and thicker at both side edges the displacement of the metal is uniform in both directions and at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the blank or plate. Such rolling of the double-tapered plate is effected by crowned rolls, which are balanced to act uniformly in the displacement of the metallic particles, and hence it is possible to feed the blank in a straight line through the mill. After such a blank as that shown in Fig. 10, for instance, has been produced it is cut along the longitudinal median line to provide two blade-blanks, one of which is shown in Fig. 13. The blank shown in Fig. 13 is then finished, as hereinbefore described, by cutting the teeth in the thicker edge thereof, and Fig. 14 illustrates the blank after the performance of this step.

Having thus fully described my'invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A saw-blank of tapering cross-sectional contour and having different gages or thicknesses along its thick and thin edges, said blank produced by rolling a plate which is doubly tapered in cross-section and subsequently divided along its thin median line, substantially as described.

2. A cross-sectionally-tapered saw-blank which is also tapered longitudinally, producing different gages or thicknesses at its respective thin and thickened edges, said blank produced from a rolled plate which has its molecules displaced in opposite directions from a thin median portion and is subsequently dividedv along said median portion, substantially as described.

3. Asaw-blank, produced by rolling, which is tapered transversely and is thicker at points adjacent to its ends than at `intermediate points in its length, substantially as set forth.

4C. A saw-blank tapered transversely and thicker at points adjacent to its ends than at intermediate points in its length, the surfaces thereof hardened by rolling, substantially as described. 4

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHESTER PROUTY.

Witnesses:

M. Z. ELLIOTT, v .A. M.'ENT. 

